The invention is directed to a protective athletic pad, such as a football shoulder pad, and specifically includes padding which is readily secured to and removable therefrom.
A typical shoulder pad used to overlie the chest, back and shoulders of an athlete is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,847 which issued on Oct. 13, 1987 in the name of Hudson Wang. The shoulder pad includes a pair of right and left body arches, a pair of right and left shoulder flaps, a pair of right and left shoulder caps, a pair of right and left pads underlying the arches, and a pair of right and left pads underlying the shoulder caps. The arches and the caps are releasably interconnected to their associated pads by keyhole type openings in the arches and caps which receive studs having stems and enlarged heads.
One disadvantage of the latter-described shoulder pad is complex structure required to secure the studs to the pads necessitating the use of a reinforcing plate to alleviate abrasion of the associated pad, two reinforcing rings, alignment between all of these and associated holes thereof, etc. During the manufacture, the stud must also be accurately aligned with the various holes in the various elements and a tubular end of the stud properly upset to unite the various elements. A second disadvantage is the complexity in forming the keyhole slots or openings, particularly those associated with the arches.